Nanopesticides are novel plant protection products offering numerous benefits. Because nanoparticles behave differently from dissolved chemicals, the environmental risks of these materials could differ from conventional pesticides. We used soil–earthworm systems to compare the fate and uptake of analytical‐grade bifenthrin to that of bifenthrin in traditional and nanoencapsulated formulations. Apparent sorption coefficients for bifenthrin were up to 3.8 times lower in the nano treatments than in the non‐nano treatments, whereas dissipation half‐lives of the nano treatments were up to 2 times longer. Earthworms in the nano treatments accumulated approximately 50% more bifenthrin than those in the non‐nano treatments. In the non‐nano treatments, most of the accumulated material was found in the earthworm tissue, whereas in the nano treatments, the majority resided in the gut. Evaluation of toxicokinetic modeling approaches showed that models incorporating the release rate of bifenthrin from the nanocapsule and distribution within the earthworm provided the best estimations of uptake from the nano‐formulations. Overall, our findings indicate that the risks of nanopesticides may be different from those of conventional formulations. The modeling presented provides a starting point for assessing risks of these materials but needs to be further developed to better consider the behavior of the nanoencapsulated pesticide within the gut system.
The Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is frequently used in pavement engineering
for road pavement inspection. The main objective of this work is to validate
nondestructive, quick and powerful measurements using GPR for assessment of subgrade
and asphalt /concrete conditions. In the present study, two different antennas
(250, 500 MHz) were used. The case studies are presented was carried in University
of Baghdad over about 100m of paved road. After data acquisition and radar grams
collection, they have been processed using RadExplorer V1.4 software
implementing different filters with the most effective ones (time zero adjustment and
DC removal) in addition to other interpretation tool parameters.
The interpretatio
In this paper, Bayes estimators of the parameter of Maxwell distribution have been derived along with maximum likelihood estimator. The non-informative priors; Jeffreys and the extension of Jeffreys prior information has been considered under two different loss functions, the squared error loss function and the modified squared error loss function for comparison purpose. A simulation study has been developed in order to gain an insight into the performance on small, moderate and large samples. The performance of these estimators has been explored numerically under different conditions. The efficiency for the estimators was compared according to the mean square error MSE. The results of comparison by MSE show that the efficiency of B
... Show MoreIn this paper, Bayes estimators of the parameter of Maxwell distribution have been derived along with maximum likelihood estimator. The non-informative priors; Jeffreys and the extension of Jeffreys prior information has been considered under two different loss functions, the squared error loss function and the modified squared error loss function for comparison purpose. A simulation study has been developed in order to gain an insight into the performance on small, moderate and large samples. The performance of these estimators has been explored numerically under different conditions. The efficiency for the estimators was compared according to the mean square error MSE. The results of comparison by MSE show that the efficiency of Bayes est
... Show MoreIn this paper, some estimators for the unknown shape parameter and reliability function of Basic Gompertz distribution have been obtained, such as Maximum likelihood estimator and Bayesian estimators under Precautionary loss function using Gamma prior and Jefferys prior. Monte-Carlo simulation is conducted to compare mean squared errors (MSE) for all these estimators for the shape parameter and integrated mean squared error (IMSE's) for comparing the performance of the Reliability estimators. Finally, the discussion is provided to illustrate the results that summarized in tables.
Background: Infection with Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) leads to activation of T-helper cells (Th-1 and Th-2) which are involved in the synthesis and release of different cytokines which may lead to endothelial dysfunction. Objectives: To evaluate the endothelial function in patients with acute toxoplasmosis. Methods: This case-control study involved 31 patients with toxoplasmosis aged 19 - 47 years matched with 20 healthy subjects. Anti-T. gondii antibody (IgG, IgM, IgA) was determined by direct antigen-antibody reaction. Interleukin-6(IL-6), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and human malondialdehyde (MDA) serum levels were measured. Results: IgM, IgG and IgA levels were high in the infected patients compared with controls (P < 0.01). Furthermore, IL-
... Show MoreThis study tackles the contribution of the environmental audit in achieving the sustainability of the environmental balance in the Sudanese business environment. The study aimed at clarifying the role of environmental auditing in supporting sustainable development, and to recognize the role of environmental audit in urging businesses to abide by environmental protection. It also shows how effective the environmental audit reports are, in providing the reliable data for the concerned authorities, in order to use it in making the decisions that would help in the sustainability of the environmental balance. To achieve the goals of the study, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to the registered chartered accountants in Sud
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